Fighters
A source close to the tournament on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Thomas has signed an exclusive deal to compete in the promotion’s season-two tournament.

The organization soon hosts eight-man tourneys in four weight classes to determine No. 1 contenders for its season-one champions.

The second season, which commences in April, airs live on FOX Sports Net affiliates on Thursday nights, and highlights packages air on NBC and Telemundo over the weekend. Both the second and third seasons take place in 2010 and run for 12 weeks each.

Thomas is the first UFC veteran inked for the second-season tournaments.

The 25-year-old Illinois native rebounded from an unsuccessful UFC run with a submission victory over Ryan Stout at “War in the Yard” in Indiana this past August.

After earning a ticket to the octagon with four consecutive victories, Thomas suffered back-to-back armbar-submission losses to Ben Saunders and Matt Brown at UFC 87 and UFC 91, respectively.

Aside from a January 2008 submission loss to Jesse Lennox, who now fights in the UFC, Thomas has never lost a fight outside the UFC, and all of his wins have come via stoppage (nine of the 10 in the first round).

Bellator’s lucrative tournaments can earn each division’s winner nearly $200,000 over three fights and three months. Thomas looks to win the welterweight tournament to earn the right to fight season-one champ Lyman Good.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is probably the greatest female fighter on the planet, which is a tremendous feat. So why are we seemingly so obsessed with arguing about whether she could beat up men?